Improved puddling-furnace



n. & J. HA LL.

Puddling Furnace. I No. 59,214. Patented Oct. 30, 1866.

n. PEi'ERS. nwwumn m mr. washum n. c.

ArnN'r men DANIEL HALL AND JOSEPH HALL,

IMPROVED PUDD OF WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA.

LING-FURNACE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 59,214,,dated October 30, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, DANIEL HALL and JOSEPH HALL, of Wheeling, in the county of Ohio and State of West Virginia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Puddling- Furnaces; and we do hereby declare that thefollowingis a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- 7 Figure l is a side elevation of a double puddling-furnace of our invention. Fig. 2 is a central vertical longitudinal section of the same, taken in the plane of the line as m, Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a horizontal longitudinal section taken in the line y y, Fig. 1.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

This invention relates to certain new and important improvements upon puddling and boiling furnaces of our invention, for which Letters Patent were granted November 14, 1865.

The present improvements consist in a novel mode of constructing the stack of the furnace, of forming and supporting the neck or exitfiue between the puddling-chamber and the stack, of building the fire-bridge, and several other novel arrangements connected with the puddling and fire chambers, all of which, jointly and severally, conduce to the economical production of iron by reducing the cost of construction of furnaces and of repairs in keeping them in working order, while at the same time the operation of boiling or puddling is facilitated.

In the general construction of the furnace we conform to the arrangements embraced and described in our patent granted November 14, 1865, and, except in those parts which are now to be particularly described as improvements thereon, we shall not enter into details further than may be necessary for a clear understanding of the whole.

The drawings exhibit double furnaces, or two furnaces placed back to back, and our improvements apply equally to single or double furnaces.

A is the fire-chamber, B the boiling or puddling chamber, and O-the iron stack. The puddling-chamber and smoke-stack, instead of beingsupported, as usual, on a solid foundation of mason-work, are based on cast-iron plates (t a, which rest on iron pillars b b, that are also based on flat cast-iron plates 0 01yin g level on the groun(la method of construction which saves a large quantity of fire-brickand other material and keeps the furnace much cooler by a free circulation of air underneath, rendering the furnace more durable and promoting the comfort of the workmen.

The iron stacks of furnaces in general use are made about forty inches in diameter from the bottom to the top, with a lining of firebrick thirteen inches thick throughout, which makes the stack top-heavy, thereby necessitwenty feet, making in all about thirty-two feet for the height of the stack above a baseplate, a a, Fig. 2, resting on the top of four tall and strong iron pillars, b b, which rise from the base or ground plate 0 c to a level of a few feet above the top of the furnace.

The casing is a sheet-iron cylinder about one-eighth of an inch thick. The lower part of the stack is lined with fire-brick nine inches thick, and the upper part has a lining of only four inches thick, which we find all sufficient to protect the iron, as the flame has little effect upon the lining above the twelve-feet section.

By this form of construction of the stack we make a saving of about one-half the fire-brick required for lining iron stacks in general use, while also less iron is required, and the stack is so much lighter and firmer 011 its base that guy-rods are unnecessary.

In connection with this improved form of construction of the stack, we also surround the base with a sheet-iron shell, (I cl, about eight inches larger in diameter than the lower part of the stack, which also extends through the roof of the building. The lower part of the shell (I d is cut away 011 four sides to make openings 0 e for the passage of a current of air from below to circulate around the stack and keep it cool, thereby carrying off the heat about the furnace and shielding the workmen, while the roof of the building at the same time is protected against excessive heat from the stack, which often causes the destruction of iron-mill property.

In connection with our improved mode of constructing the stack of a furnace, we also modify and improve the form and construction of the neck E leading into it from the boiling-chamber. The neck of the furnace in general use is supported by brick walls built up from the foundation on the ground, and has also a drop-neck from six to twelve inches over.

By our arrangement the heavy brick foundation and drop-neck are dispensed with, thus saving a large proportion of the brick and iron material required by the old plan.

Our improved furnace-neck is supported on the pillars or columns I) b b b which sustain the stack, the bearing bars M extending from pillar to pillar, and resting on projections 71/ h on their sides, upon which bearing-bars lies a horizontal iron plate, g g, which extends from the pnddling-chamber B to the back endi of the neck, for the purpose of forming a foun da-tiou on which it is built. The iron binding-plates 70 k inclosing the neck, instead of extending tothe ground, as usual, rest upon the foundation -plate 9 y, and extend up to the plate a a, the base of the iron stack (J. These binding-plates are formed with vertical ribs m m on their inside, forming air -passages around the brick lining n 11 in the same manner as the binding-plates k 70 around the body of the furnace, which are more particularly described in our patent of November 14, 1865, before referred to, by which the neck is kept cooler and its strength and durability are secured.

The lower part of the neck, forming the throat or exit-flue of the furnace, is made horizontal, and the floor is level from the basin B to the back end, as shown in Fig. 2, by which form of construction of the exit-flue we obtain uniformity of draft, which causes regularity of heat in thepuddling-chamber, highly favorable to the working of the iron during the process of puddling.

In connection with our improved furnacedoor 1), more particularly described in our patent previously mentioned, we introduce an improved fore plate, 1 r, Fig. 1, which is inserted in a recess in the bottom of the doorway.

The furnaces in general use have a fore plate made of cast-iron, about two feet long, nine inches wide, and from two to two and a half inches thick, which is bolted to the bottom of the door-plate. Instead of this heavy cast-iron fore plate, we employ awrought-iron bar about twenty inches long, four inches wide, and from one to two inches thick, va-

ried to suit the workman, and which may be removed'and changed in a few minutes.

N ow, the advantages of our improved fore plate are that it weighs only about one-third of those in common use, is much more durable than cast-iron, and facilitates the operation of puddling, as it is much easier for the work- 1 man to handle his tools resting upon it, being only about one-half the ordinary width. In addition, we also make recesses in either side of the door-frame for the reception of wroughtiron side bits, 8 s, Fig. 3, made in L or T shape, which are easily rolled. They are bolted, and may be removed and changed readily without injury to the brick-work.

Our firebridge G is made different from that in general use, being formed with an inclined side next or within the fire-chamber A, Fig. 2, which causes the flame and heat to pass more directly from the body of the fire to the iron in the puddling-chamber, the top of the bridge being only nine inches over, instead of eighteen inches, when built square, as in the old plan.

Our grate-bars t 2? rest on hollow cast-iron bearers q q of an inverted-U shape. ((1,) for the reason that they stand the heat better, and are less apt :to warp than solid bars, and, weighing much less, are cheaper.

Having thus described our several improvements in paddling-furnaces, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, lS

1. The improved iron-cased smoke-stack, of unequal diameters at the upper and lower parts, lined with fire-brick of unequal thickness, supported on thepillars b b b b, and constructed and arranged substantially as and for the purposes herein specified.

2. The outer shell or casing, d d, constructed and arranged substantially as and for the purposes herein described.

3. The wrought-iron fore plate, 1' r, and the recess in the doorway in which it is inserted, in combination with the furnace-door 1), constructed and arranged substantially as and for the purposes herein described.

4. The wrought-iron side bits, 8 s, placed in a recess in the doorway of the furnace, substantially in the manner as herein specified.

5. The horizontal or straight-bottomed neck E, supported 011 the foundation-plate q, resting on bearers i t, which are sustained by the projections h h on the pillars b b, constructed and arranged substantially as and for the purposes hcrein described.

6. The ribbed binding-plates k k, in combination with the neck E, constructed and arranged substantially as and for the purposes herein described.

7. The improved inclined fire-bridge G, constructed substantially as and for the purposes specified.

DANIEL HALL. JOSEPH HALL.

Witnesses:

JAMES W. WARD, G. H. QUIMBY. 

